Optical receivers with dc cancellation bias circuit and embedded offset cancellation

ABSTRACT

In optical receivers, cancelling the DC component of the incoming current is a key to increasing the receiver&#39;s effectiveness, and therefore increase the channel capacity. Ideally, the receiver includes a DC cancellation circuit for removing the DC component; however, in differential receivers an offset may be created between the output voltage components caused by the various amplifiers. Accordingly, an offset cancellation circuit is required to determine the offset and to modify the DC cancellation circuit accordingly.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an optical receiver, and in particular to an optical receiver with a DC cancellation bias circuit with embedded offset cancellation.

BACKGROUND

Information is transmitted in an optical channel using optical modulation. In a receiver, the received optical signal contains the information, which could have been modulated in amplitude, phase, polarization or a combination thereof. The demodulation of the optical signal is done using a transducer, e.g. photodiode, that converts from the optical to the electrical domain. The transducer delivers an electrical signal, which is processed to extract the information contained in the optical signal. The maximum to minimum optical power, i.e. dynamic range, together with the transducer define the received electrical signal dynamic range. Modern communication systems use complex modulation schemes, e.g. quadrature modulation, to increase the communication channel efficiency. The efficiency of complex modulation schemes is proportional to the maximum operation frequency, i.e. baud rate, and dynamic range.

The received optical signal is transformed to an electrical signal using a transducer. Most transducers convert optical signals to electrical current. However, the current magnitude, which is proportional to the received optical power, needs to be amplified. Typically, during amplification the electrical current is converted to a voltage. The current-to-voltage amplifier, or transimpedance amplifier, together with the bias circuits for proper operation remains one of the most challenging components in an optical receiver.

Incoming optical signal transformed to the electrical domain contain a variable component, i.e. the information, and a fix component, i.e. direct current (DC). The DC component must be minimized so that its effect is negligible in the receiver. Typically a sink circuit, i.e. a DC cancellation circuit, is used at the TIA input. If the receiver architecture uses differential circuit topologies for better performance, then the receiver will be sensitive to unbalanced DC inputs, i.e. input offset. Moreover, offset within the receiver will also be generated due to asymmetry existing in the receiver. In a balanced receiver, each of the differential inputs may have a transducer, therefore, the sink circuit must be able to remove the constant component while minimizing the difference between the fixed components, i.e. offset between the input signals

Receiver circuits are designed to provide large gain, e.g. more than 70 dB of transimpedance gain. Therefore, any offset introduced at the input is amplified accordingly, resulting in the partial or complete loss of information. Offset may also be generated within the receiver as a consequence of a mismatch and a process variation during chip fabrication, and similar to the offset introduced by the transducer, the information can be partially or completely lost if there is no offset correction., A DC cancellation circuit and an offset cancellation circuit may be used, whereby each of these components independently sense a reference and inject a corrective signal. Furthermore, conventional sensing and correction are typically done in the high frequency (HF) path, consequently, the HF performance may be affected in bandwidth, noise, linearity or a combination thereof.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a receiver including a DC cancellation circuit that minimizes the effect of DC components in the incoming electrical signals, and an embedded offset cancellation circuit for minimizing the effect of the offset introduced by receivers with differential topologies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention relates to an optical receiver comprising:

at least one photodetector capable of generating a differential input current including first and second input current components in response to an optical signal;

a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) capable of converting the first and second input current components into first and second input voltage components;

a variable gain amplifier (VGA) capable of amplifying the first and second input voltage components to a desired output voltage forming first and second output voltage components;

a DC cancellation circuit (DCCC) for cancelling a DC portion of the first and second input current components or the first and second input voltage components by comparing the first and second input current components or the first and second input voltage components to respective first and second reference voltages or currents, and sinking the DC portion of the first and second input current components based on the comparison; and

an offset cancellation circuit (OCC) capable of obtaining voltage samples after the TIA for cancelling any offset between the first and second output voltage components by modifying at least one of the first or second reference voltages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which represent preferred embodiments thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical receiver in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2a is a schematic diagram of a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) of the optical receiver of FIG. 1 with a DC cancellation circuit defining the output bias condition;

FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) of the optical receiver of FIG. 1 with a DC cancellation circuit defining the input bias condition;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a differential input and differential output trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) of the optical receiver of FIG. 1 with a DC cancellation circuit and a offset cancellation circuit;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a receiver with a DC cancellation circuit and a offset cancellation circuit with a different sampling location;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a receiver with a DC cancellation circuit and a offset cancellation circuit with yet another sampling location;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram a receiver utilizing the TIA of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the receiver of FIG. 4 with a predetermined offset;

FIG. 8a is a plot of the VGA input voltage vs time with an introduced offset, as shown in the receiver of FIG. 7;

FIG. 8b is a plot of the receiver output voltage (V) vs time (μs) for the receiver of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plot of Output Voltage offset (mV) from a Monte Carlo simulation with the offset cancellation circuit (OCC) ON and OFF;

FIG. 10 is a plot of current (μA) vs. time (μs) for two differential current components;

FIG. 11 is a plot of output voltage (V) vs. time (μs) for two differential output voltage components; and

FIGS. 12a to 12d are Monte Carlo plots of input and output voltages with and without offset cancellation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the present teachings are described in conjunction with various embodiments and examples, it is not intended that the present teachings be limited to such embodiments. On the contrary, the present teachings encompass various alternatives and equivalents, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.

With reference to FIG. 1, a receiver 1 includes a variable gain trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) 2 for converting a photodiode current signal into a voltage signal, a variable gain amplifier (VGA) 3 for amplifying the voltage signal, and a driver stage 4 for driving subsequent stages, e.g. an ADC. The front end of the receiver 1 may be connected to a general transducer, which may be contained in a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) 6 including one or more transducers, such as one or more photodetectors, and preferably a pair of photodiodes. The back end of the receiver 1 may be connected to an output load, e.g. a digital signal processor 7 for converting the output of the receiver 1 into digital signals.

The receiver 1 includes a Gain Control Circuit (GCC) 8 to set the gain of the TIA 2 and the VGA 3, via TIA and VGA gain control signals 12 and 14, respectively, for a given range of input signal power and desired range of output signal power. The gain control circuit 8 is typically implemented as an open loop control or a close loop control. An open loop implementation sets the gain of the TIA 2 and the VGA 3 according to an overall gain control signal 9 from a device controller (not shown). A closed loop control senses the output signal power from the TIA 2, the VGA 3 or the driver stage 4, via feedback signals 15 a and 15 b to a power, e.g. voltage, detector in the gain control circuit 8, and varies the gain of the TIA 2 and the VGA 3 to set the desired output voltage magnitude. The closed loop mode is also known as automatic gain control (AGC).

A DC cancellation circuit 21 is provided to maintain the receiver input bias while suppressing any DC component at the input generated by a optical-to-electrical transducer, e.g. a photodiode. The DC cancellation circuit 21 uses a closed loop 25 in which a sample voltage or current is compared to a reference voltage (or current) V_(REF). V_(REF) may be the optimum input bias for the TIA 2, and therefore depends on the TIA circuit topology. Ideally, the V_(REF) provides the best noise, bandwidth, linearity etc. according to the design specifications. Typically, V_(REF) may be 0.3V to 1.5V, and ideally about 1V, but other TIA designs may utilize a V_(REF) above or below these values. V_(REF) is an on-chip (or off-chip) reference voltage that may be designed to be invariant, e.g. bandgap voltage, or have a temperature or process dependency. The closed loop 25 is used to define the output (FIG. 2a ) or the input (FIG. 2b ) bias condition. The reference voltage (or current) V_(REF) is selected to guarantee proper operation of the receiver 1.

With reference to FIG. 3, an embedded offset cancellation circuit 31 is used to modify, e.g. increase or decrease the magnitude, the reference voltage or current used by the DC cancellation circuit 21. Offset introduced by the transducer, in PIC 6, and offset generated in the receiver 1 are minimized overall with a small increase in area and power consumption. In general, an amplifier, e.g. TIA 2 or VGA 3, uses the DC cancellation circuit 21 to suppress DC components, either voltage or current. The closed loop 25 ensures that the sample point (either input or output) matches the reference voltage or current V_(REF) used to define the closed loop condition.

Careful design and manufacture may be done to ensure the information is not suppressed within the closed loop 25, which is typically achieved by selecting the closed loop maximum operating frequency well below the low cut-off frequency of the incoming signal.

The example illustrated in FIG. 3 provides differential input currents I_(INP) and I_(INN) with amplification and conversion to differential output voltages V_(OUTP) and V_(OUTN) via the TIA 2, the VGA 3 and the driver 4. The DC cancellation circuit 21 defines the TIA input bias according to the reference voltage V_(REF). The embedded offset cancellation circuit 31 may use the same sensing points or separate sensing points (OC_(INP) OC_(INN)) just after the TIA 2 or just after the VGA 3 to sample the TIA output voltages V_(OUTP) and V_(OUTN). The offset cancellation circuit 31 modifies the reference voltages (or currents) V_(REF1) and V_(REF2) used in the DC cancellation circuit 21. Extensive verification, e.g. verification of loop maximum frequency below signal minimum frequency, loop stability, nested loop stability, is required to ensure the variation in the reference voltages or currents V_(REF1) and V_(REF2) of the DC cancellation circuit 21 needed to compensate offset at the TIA output does not degrade the performance of the TIA 2.

Flexibility in the location of the offset cancellation sensing points OC_(INP) OC_(INN) enables the correction of offset within the receiver path. For example, the sensing points OC_(INP) OC_(INN) may be located after the TIA 2, between the TIA 2 and the VGA 3, as in FIG. 3, after the driver 4, as in FIG. 4 or after the VGA 3, between the VGA 3 and the driver 4, as in FIG. 5.

The DC cancellation sensing point is shown at the input prior to the TIA 2; however, other sensing points may also be used, e.g. in between the TIA 2 and the VGA 3.

The interaction between the DC cancellation 21 and the offset cancellation 31 must be verified to avoid any penalty in the receiver performance

Depending on the sensing point, the offset cancellation circuit 31 and the reference voltage or current V_(REF) may be combined with different signs and weights.

With reference to FIG. 6, the receiver 1 includes an implementation of the DC cancellation circuit 21 with the embedded offset cancellation circuit 31. The DC cancellation circuit 21 suppress DC components in the receiver input. Offset at the output of the TIA 2 is suppressed by sensing the voltage after the TIA 2, and modifying the DC cancellation reference voltage V_(REF) accordingly.

The offset cancellation circuit 31 includes a voltage comparator 32 with a first input resistor R_(i1) for sensing the first voltage component, and a second input resistor R_(i2) for sensing the second voltage component. The voltage output of the voltage comparator 32, i.e. the difference or offset between the two voltage components, is fed to a weighted summer 33 for combining with the reference voltage (or current) V_(REF). The weighted summer 33 adds or subtracts the output from the comparator, i.e. the offset cancellation circuit 31, to one of two reference voltage V_(REF1) and V_(REF2) signals provided to the DC cancellation circuit 21. Alternatively, a first portion, e.g. ½, of the offset is added to one reference voltage V_(REF1) and a second portion, e.g. ½, of the offset is subtracted from the other reference voltage V_(REF2).

In the DC cancellation circuit 21, each reference voltage signal V_(REF1) and V_(REF2) is compared in voltage comparators OA1 and 0A2 with one of the sensing input points taken at the input of the TIA 2. The difference between the sensed point and the modified reference voltage signals V_(REF1) and V_(REF2) is used to control a first terminal, e.g. gate, of first and second feedback transistors, e.g. N_(FET1) and N_(FET2), to sink the input DC current of the input current signals I_(IN_P) and I_(IN_N) via the second and third terminals, e.g. drain and source, of the first and second feedback transistors N_(FET1) and N_(FET2), and set the DC input voltage V_(IN_P) and V_(IN_N).

As an example, illustrated in FIG. 7, a predetermined offset V_(offset) is added in the high frequency path of the receiver 1. The added offset V_(offset) is corrected by the offset cancellation loop, which senses the receiver output voltage and modifies the TIA input voltage (FIG. 8a ) such the output voltage does not have offset (FIG. 8b )

Large gain (typically more than 70 dB) is required from the receiver 1, therefore, any asymmetry within the receiver 1 will generate an offset signal that can potentially degrade the output signal. Offset generated within a receiver path can take values comparable to the output voltage. Under that condition the information can be lost. FIG. 9 illustrates a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation with superimposed results when the offset cancellation circuit (OCC) 31 is OFF and ON. When the offset cancellation circuit is turned OFF, the offset measured at the receiver output is about +/−240 mV. This value will affect the output voltage in the receiver 1, and therefore the incoming signal can be partially or completely lost. The offset compensation loop turned ON reduces the offset content to less than +/−20 mV, i.e., more than one order of magnitude, as shown in the MC run with the offset cancellation circuit (OCC) ON (FIG. 9)

With reference to FIG. 10, the DC cancellation circuit 21 sets the voltage at the inputs of the TIA 2 for proper operation. The input currents I_(IN_P) and I_(IN_N) contain a variable and a constant component, i.e. I_(IN_P)=+Iin+Idc and I_(IN_N)=−Iin+Idc The variation of the single ended output terminals is shown in FIG. 10. In the example, I_(IN_P a)nd I_(IN_N) have a high frequency component and a DC component that is changing over time. The DC cancellation circuit 21 removes the DC component using a current sinker and a control loop that maintains stable the TIA input common-mode voltage. Therefore, the variation in DC component does not affect the output voltage, as shown in FIG. 11.

Input voltage is set by the DC cancellation circuit 21. Process variation changes the input voltage V_(IN_P) V_(IN_N). The offset cancellation does not affect the input voltage, as shown in FIG. 12a, 12b , where the input voltage distribution remains relatively constant irrespective of having the OCC ON or OFF

The output voltage does depend on the OCC 31, when turned on the output voltage variation reduces, FIG. 12c, 12d , and the difference between V_(OUT_P) and V_(OUT_N) (i.e., output offset) is even lower, as shown in FIG. 9

The foregoing description of one or more embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto. 

1-13. (canceled)
 14. An optical receiver circuit for receiving a differential input current signal including a first input current component and a second input current component from a photodetector in response to an optical signal; a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) configured for converting the differential input current signal into a differential input voltage signal comprising a first input voltage component and a second input voltage component; a DC cancellation circuit (DCCC) configured for cancelling DC portions of the differential input current signal by generating a first difference between the first input current component and a first reference current signal, and a second difference between the second input current component and a second reference current signal, and configured for sinking the DC portions of the differential input current signal based on the first difference and the second difference; and an offset cancellation circuit (OCC) configured for obtaining a first voltage sample and a second voltage sample after the TIA, and for cancelling an offset between the first input voltage component and the second input voltage component based on the first voltage sample and the second voltage sample.
 15. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 14, wherein the offset cancellation circuit is configured to modify at least one of the first reference current signal or the second reference current signal for cancelling the offset between the first input voltage component and the second input voltage component.
 16. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 14, wherein the offset cancellation circuit comprises: a voltage comparator configured for determining the offset by comparing the first voltage sample and the second voltage sample; and a summer configured for adding or subtracting the offset to or from one of the first reference current signal or the second reference current signal.
 17. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 14, wherein the offset cancellation circuit comprises: a voltage comparator configured for determining the offset by comparing the first voltage sample and second voltage sample; and a summer configured for adding a portion of the offset to the first reference current signal and for subtracting another portion of the offset from the second reference current signal.
 18. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 14, further comprising: a variable gain amplifier (VGA) configured for amplifying the differential input voltage signal to a desired output voltage forming a first output voltage component and a second output voltage component; and a first OCC sensing point and a second OCC sensing point located after the VGA enabling the offset cancellation circuit to sample the first output voltage component for the first sample voltage, and the second output voltage component for the second sample voltage.
 19. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 14, further comprising: a variable gain amplifier (VGA) configured for amplifying the differential input voltage signal to a desired output voltage forming a first output voltage component and a second output voltage component; and a first OCC sensing point and a second OCC sensing point located between the TIA and the VGA enabling the offset cancellation circuit to sample the first output voltage component for the first sample voltage, and the second output voltage component for the second sample voltage.
 20. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 14, further comprising: a variable gain amplifier (VGA) configured for amplifying the differential input voltage signal to a desired output voltage forming a first output voltage component and a second output voltage component; a driver stage after the VGA for driving subsequent stages of the optical receiver; and a first OCC sensing point and a second OCC sensing point located after the driver stage enabling the offset cancellation circuit to sample the first output voltage component for the first sample voltage, and the second output voltage component for the second sample voltage.
 21. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 14, wherein the DC cancellation circuit comprises: a first comparator for comparing a first current sample of the first input current component and the first reference current signal generating the first difference; a second comparator for comparing a second current sample of the second input current component and the second reference current signal generating the second difference; a first current sink connected to the first comparator and a second current sink connected to the second comparator for sinking the DC portions of the differential input current signal based on the first difference and the second difference.
 22. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 21, further comprising a first DCCC sensing point and a second DCCC sensing point located before the TIA enabling the DC cancellation circuit to obtain the first current sample from the first input current component, and the second current sample from the second input current component.
 23. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 21, wherein the offset cancellation circuit comprises a weighted summer configured for adding or subtracting the offset between the first voltage sample and the second voltage sample, and for modifying the first reference current signal and/or the second reference current signal based on the first difference and the second difference.
 24. An optical receiver circuit for receiving a differential input current signal including a first input current component and a second input current component from a photodetector in response to an optical signal; a trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) configured for converting the differential input current signal into a differential input voltage signal comprising a first input voltage component and a second input voltage component; a DC cancellation circuit (DCCC) configured for cancelling DC portions of the differential input current signal by generating a first difference between the first input voltage component and a first reference voltage, and a second difference between the second input voltage component and a second reference voltage, and configured for sinking the DC portions of the differential input current signal based on the first difference and the second difference; and an offset cancellation circuit (OCC) configured for obtaining a first voltage sample and a second voltage sample after the TIA, and for cancelling an offset between the first input voltage component and the second input voltage component based on the first voltage sample and the second voltage sample.
 25. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 24, wherein the offset cancellation circuit is configured to modify at least one of the first reference voltage signal or the second reference voltage signal for cancelling the offset between the first input voltage component and the second input voltage component.
 26. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 24, wherein the offset cancellation circuit comprises: a voltage comparator configured for determining the offset by comparing the first voltage sample and the second voltage sample; and a voltage summer configured for adding or subtracting the offset to or from one of the first reference voltage signal or the second reference voltage signal.
 27. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 24, wherein the offset cancellation circuit comprises: a voltage comparator configured for determining the offset by comparing the first voltage sample and second voltage sample; and a voltage summer configured for adding a portion of the offset to the first reference voltage signal and for subtracting another portion of the offset from the second reference voltage signal.
 28. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 24, further comprising a variable gain amplifier (VGA) configured for amplifying the differential input voltage signal to a desired output voltage forming a first output voltage component and a second output voltage component; and a first OCC sensing point and a second OCC sensing point located after the VGA enabling the offset cancellation circuit to sample the first output voltage component and the second output voltage component for the first sample voltage and the second sample voltage, respectively.
 29. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 24, further comprising: a variable gain amplifier (VGA) configured for amplifying the differential input voltage signal to a desired output voltage forming a first output voltage component and a second output voltage component; and a first OCC sensing point and a second OCC sensing point located between the TIA and the VGA enabling the offset cancellation circuit to sample the first input voltage component and the second input voltage component for the first sample voltage and the second sample voltage, respectively.
 30. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 24, further comprising: a variable gain amplifier (VGA) configured for amplifying the differential input voltage signal to a desired output voltage forming a first output voltage component and a second output voltage component; a driver stage after the VGA for driving subsequent stages of the optical receiver; and a first OCC sensing point and a second OCC sensing point located after the driver stage enabling the offset cancellation circuit to sample the first output voltage component and the second output voltage component for the first voltage sample and the second voltage sample, respectively.
 31. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 24, wherein the DC cancellation circuit comprises: a first comparator for comparing the first voltage sample of the first input voltage component and the first reference voltage signal generating the first difference; a second comparator for comparing the second voltage sample of the second input voltage component and the second reference voltage signal generating the second difference; and a first current sink connected to the first comparator and a second current sink connected to the second comparator for sinking the DC portions of the differential input current signal based on the first difference and the second difference.
 32. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 31, further comprising a first DCCC sensing point and a second DCCC sensing point located after the TIA enabling the DC cancellation circuit to obtain the first voltage sample from the first input voltage component and the second voltage sample from the second input voltage component.
 33. The optical receiver circuit according to claim 31, wherein the offset cancellation circuit comprises: a voltage comparator for determining the offset by comparing the first voltage sample and the second voltage sample; and a weighted summer configured for adding or subtracting the offset between the first voltage sample and the second voltage sample, and for modifying the first reference voltage signal and the second reference voltage signal based on the first difference and the second difference. 